


After the show

by Ren



Series: Summer Pornathon 2011 [3]
Category: Merlin - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Circus, Community: summerpornathon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-31
Updated: 2011-07-31
Packaged: 2017-10-22 01:18:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/232115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ren/pseuds/Ren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Circus AU as an excuse for porn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After the show

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Challenge 3, alternate universe @ [](http://summerpornathon.livejournal.com/profile)[**summerpornathon**](http://summerpornathon.livejournal.com/). As time goes by, I find it harder and harder to write short stuff. There's not a lot of porn here because I ran out of words.

The music was still playing under the big top but the last evening show had ended. Arthur shuffled around backstage, making sure that all the props were in their place and ready for tomorrow.

"Go ahead," he'd told the other members of the troupe. "I'll finish tidying up on my own, it won't take me long."

It was a lie, because his injured left hand meant he had to do everything painfully slowly and by the time he was done he might as well have an early breakfast instead of a late dinner. He grunted as he lifted the box of Morgana's throwing knives, cursing the woman who had thought of leaving them in the middle of the floor, and felt his eyes water as the edge of the box dug into his palm.

"Everything okay?" Merlin asked, making Arthur jump. He had thought he was alone. Taking advantage of his surprise, Merlin took the box from his hands. "Let me help, that cut has got to hurt."

"It's nothing," Arthur said brusquely, looking for something he could use to stop the blood. Every scrap of cloth in sight was covered with sequins. "Besides you've already helped more than enough," he added viciously.

Merlin had joined the troupe only last autumn, but he'd quickly become one of the most popular numbers. He'd started off as Gaius's assistant, because the old magician's fingers were getting stiff and he had problems with some of the more complex tricks, and in less than a month he'd started performing on his own. His easy smile and his jests always drew the biggest applauses from the crowd.

Arthur hadn't been used to being pushed out of the spotlight like that. He was the biggest attraction, he had the closing number, it was his name that the audience was supposed to chant. It was unfair that Merlin should get all of the attention when all he did was conjuring a rose and a few handkerchiefs that he'd stuffed down the front of his pants beforehand. And balloons. And a bunny. And a sword.

All right, so maybe Merlin's number was impressive, but Arthur was not going to be overdone by a kid. He'd started training harder and making his own number flashier, increasing the number of torches and knives that he was juggling and making them spin faster and faster until they were just a blur overhead.

Playing up their rivalry on stage had been Uther's idea. "We'll stage it like a duel," he had said. "Magic versus swords, Arthur in a corner and Merlin in the other. Let the audience cheer for their champions."

It had sounded like a terrible idea, but this was Uther Pendragon's Traveling Carnival so it was Uther Pendragon who called the shots.

At first everything had gone well. The viewers were cheering, shouting alternatively Merlin's and Arthur's names, while Gwaine ran around them on his unicycle and provided a mock commentary of the match. Arthur thought that he just had to keep up his act to win: Merlin was bound to run out of props to conjure sooner or later.

But then Arthur had looked at Merlin to see what he was doing and saw that Merlin was running his fingers along his magician's staff in a way that was really distracting. Then Merlin met Arthur's gaze and he licked his lips, seemingly deep in concentration. It had only been a second, but Arthur hadn't been able to stop himself from imagining Merlin's fingers and tongue doing something else entirely.

He hadn't noticed Leon tossing him the last of the knives, had fumbled and cut his palm open on the blade. All the knives and swords he was juggling had clattered to the floor. The audience had started screaming Merlin's name, and Arthur had sunk on his knees and proclaimed that he had lost the duel and Merlin was the greatest wizard in the land. Thankfully nobody had seen the blood, they had thought that his loss was staged.

Now it was Merlin falling to his knees in front of Arthur. "I'm sorry about your injury," he said, hands over Arthur's leather-clad hips.

"It's just a scratch," Arthur replied, and it was true that it could have gone much worse. "You should be sorry about being such a tease. All I could think about tonight was..."

His voice stuttered as Merlin pushed down his trousers and took the tip of his cock in his mouth. Arthur drew a shaky breath.

Merlin pulled back just long enough to say, "Tell me," and then swirled his tongue around the head of Arthur's cock. Arthur tangled one hand in Merlin's hair and tried to stop himself from coming there and then.

"I want you to suck me," he said. "I want to see your lips stretched around my cock. I want to come on your face and make a mess of you. And then I want you to fuck me so hard I won't be able to walk tomorrow. God, Merlin."

Merlin hooked his arms around Arthur's legs for support. His eyes were glinting with amusement. The show was over but the night had just begun.


End file.
